Autoblog

Returning war vets at higher risk for vehicle crashes

John Neff — Tue, 07 May 2013 08:45:00 EST

David Brown of The Washington Post has published a piece on a little-known risk to returning veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars: motor vehicle crashes. According to the report, which sources both professional research and observations of service members, vets and their counselors, 75 percent of returning vets have a higher rate of fatal car crashes than the civilian population. Likewise, active duty troops are involved in more accidents after their deployments than before, and the likelihood of an accident goes up with each successive tour of duty. In fact, motor vehicle fatalities will soon rank right up there with suicide and interpersonal violence as a leading cause of non-combat deaths.

The reasons why our nation's service members are at such high risk for motor vehicle crashes include, of course, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a contributing factor, as well as drunken driving and seeking out thrills to replace the rush of actual combat in civilian life. The latter is likely why fatal motorcycle crashes in particular spike during wartime.

The final reason mentioned by Brown in his piece, however, is one we hadn't considered, which is that returning service members haven't unlearned the aggressive driving behaviors that kept them alive in a war zone. Racing through intersections, straddling lanes, swerving on bridges and even not wearing seat belts because they hinder a quick escape are all cited in the report as behavior learned in combat that becomes very dangerous when it happens on the home front.

According to Brown, this problem is only beginning to get attention from the military, and research is still hard to come by as recruiting willing test subjects is not easy. The data, however, that points to motor vehicle crashes as a rapidly growing risk for our active and retired service members is conclusive. Click here to read Brown's full report.

Returning war vets at higher risk for vehicle crashes originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 07 May 2013 08:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barn finds classier in Britain, Aston Martin DB4 convertible heads to Bonhams

Jeff Glucker — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:28:00 EST

Filed under: Convertible, Auctions, Aston Martin

Aston Martin DB4 convertible barn find - Click above for high-res image gallery

In the U.S., there are plenty of stories about amazing vehicles found in barns. Tales of rare Cobras, forgotten Corvettes and misplaced muscle cars are the subjects of books and dreams. Now, a long-forgotten treasure has recently been unearthed in the United Kingdom, and somewhere David Brown is smiling. An Aston Martin DB4 convertible, one of only 70 produced, has been recovered and will cross the Bonhams auction block.

Richard Truesdell of AutomotiveTraveler breaks down the history of the DB4 convertible for us (and he does so in a very iPad-friendly format). This particular roughed-up example has a two-owner history, and shows just 60,000 miles on the odometer. The original engine is gone, but the mill that comes with the car is a factory unit, which was installed in the late 1970s. The convertible will be sold in its barn find condition.

Slated to face the gavel on May 21st, auction experts expect the car to go for £80,000 to £140,000, or around $130,000 to $227,000 USD. More is possible, however, because a recent 1958 Aston Martin DB2/4 MkIII ended up costing one bidder $319,000. Of course, that one was owned by David Brown himself. Regardless, this barn find will most likely wind up in the hands of someone ready to bring it back to life.

Gallery: Aston Martin DB4 Convertible Barn Find

[Source: Automotive Traveler | Image: Gooding and Company]

Barn finds classier in Britain, Aston Martin DB4 convertible heads to Bonhams originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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David Brown's rusty old Aston sells for £200k at auction

Noah Joseph — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 12:35:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Convertible, Auctions, Aston Martin, UK

David Brown's 1958 Aston Martin DB2/4 MkIII Drophead - Click above for high-res images

How much would you pay for a rusty old car? A couple grand, if it had real potential? More? How about $319,000? That's how much one rusty old Aston Martin recently sold for at auction, and needless to say, it far exceeded pre-auction estimates.

Of course, this 1958 Aston Martin DB2/4 MkIII drophead is no ordinary old car. It belonged to the legendary David Brown himself, the former Aston boss whose initials still grace the company's GTs to this day. The car's been sitting under a tarp, hidden from the world for 30 years. Naturally it's not exactly in tip-top condition at this point, and it'll require a significant amount of work to be brought up to spec.

"A rolling restoration project" is how auctioneers Barons British Heritage called it. We'll call it a labor of love, and a mighty expensive one at that. Details in the press release after the jump.

Gallery: 1958 Aston Martin DB2/4 MkIII drophead, ex-David Brown

[Source: Barons]

Continue reading David Brown's rusty old Aston sells for £200k at auction

David Brown's rusty old Aston sells for £200k at auction originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 18 Sep 2010 12:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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